The storm clouds parted just in time for Stacy and Shawn's wedding last weekend at Caroline Vineyards (now called Riverbend Chapel) in Washington, Missouri.  The ceremony ended up taking place during the most beautiful part of the day, with the sun shining down into the crowd and making Stacy's necklace sparkle (according to Shawn, who said that was the first thing he saw as she came down the aisle.)  This is one of my favorite venues, so I had a great time photographing this wedding - especially because these two were so low-stress!  View their SLIDESHOW HERE to see more photos of the day.  Congratulations to them!

These guys live in Houston, and they just barely made it away from Ike for the wedding.  Some of their friends and family didn't make it out for the celebration, but it was still a great party.  The ceremony was at the Old Cathedral, with a reception at the Lemp Mansion.  Fortunately the rain held off for the outdoor reception (something that the bride and groom were thankful for all night!)  For a few songs Johnson joined the band to play the guitar and sing - that really got the crowd going.  If you watch the SLIDESHOW HERE and wonder why there are so many cake photos, it's because Johnson didn't quite play fair.  They did the traditional cake cutting, serving with forks and being very classy.  Then right after that (and after the videographer had left the area and could no longer document it) Johnson grabbed another slice of cake and attacked Courtney with it.  She fought hard, but in the end she did have frosting smeared on her face.  Honestly, it was pretty funny, and she had a good sense of humor about it.  Plus I got a lot of funny shots, so I'm for it :)

These guys are in St. Lucia for their honeymoon, staying away from Houston for a bit.  I hope all is well for them when they return!

Meg and Rusty were married Sunday on the dock at the riverfront, with a reception following on the Becky Thatcher Riverboat.  They get the award for the best first dance this year - they danced to "Beyond the Sea" by Bobby Darin and had a great routine (there was even a lift.)  They proved to be great dancers the rest of the night as well, as did most of their guests.  I've never taken so many dancing photos at a wedding before!  You can view their SLIDESHOW HERE to see more photos.  Think the classical cover of Journey is an odd slideshow song selection?  Well, they used it in their processional, and the original song made a big hit at the reception, so I thought it was perfect for them.  I hope they enjoy their honeymoon in Mexico - congrats guys!

Anne and Adam were married at Eliot Chapel in Kirkwood this past Saturday.  While this chapel is very nice, and well lit, it posed quite a challenge to photograph.  The giant windows at the front of the church provided some significant backlighting for the 3pm ceremony, and just outside the window was a bright red mini van parked in a neighbors' driveway.  It was a challenge to shoot (no one wants a minivan in their ceremony photos!), but I think I pulled it off in the end.  The ceremony went very smoothly, and the reception at the St. Louis Zoo went according to plan as well.  In fact, everything went so smoothly all day long that when we couldn't take photos with the polar bears at the zoo (they were hiding in there somewhere) Anne commented "Well, something had to go wrong!"  It was a good day for these guys - which is good because they waited 11 years for it!  You can see the SLIDESHOW HERE.  Thanks for being so relaxed and fun Anne and Adam - congratulations!

I had never met either Mindy or Matt on their wedding day - that was a first for me!  I worked with Mindy's Mom before the wedding because the couple lives in New York, so the day of I had to introduce myself (after I sorted out who they were!)  They were married at the Graham Chapel on Washington University's campus with a reception at Windows on Washington.  At the reception they gave everyone an Absinthe shot instead of champagne for the toasts (they met in Prague, so it seemed fitting.)  I think maybe they should have warned everyone what they were drinking before they took the shot, though.  There were a lot of audible groans in response to the flavor :)  They also seemed to dislike slow dancing.  After about 10 seconds of their first dance, Matt busted out a matador outfit and Mindy ran at him like a bull as the song "Matador" played.  And for the father-daughter dance they spent about 10 seconds slow dancing before they broke into "Footloose."  It was all pretty entertaining - you can view their SLIDESHOW HERE.  It was nice meeting you guys finally - best wishes!